Great news!  The IRS has clarified a part of the Secure 2.0 Act (only took two years) and now employees can more easily than ever raid their 401(k) plans. That’s right, once per year, you can take out money from your active 401(k) plan up to $1,000 without having to prove a specific hardship.  You… The post New $1,000 401(k) Emergency Rule – Is This Even a Good Idea? appeared first on Sullivan Financial Planning ..read more

Yep, it’s time again to remind dear readers that the stock market isn’t a living thing that hates you.  It’s a place where people exchange shares of companies based on a price buyers and sellers think is fair at the moment. The only bad emotion in the stock market the regret felt by those who… The post Don’t Be That Person – The One Who Sells During Down Markets appeared first on Sullivan Financial Planning ..read more

What, too much cash?  Never.  Agreed!  The green I’m speaking of that you may have too much of is that summer bumper crop of zucchini. Here are three ideas for using that stunning summer squash. Zucchini Noodles (Zoodles) I tried a zucchini noodle dish at a restaurant recently and immediately wanted to try it at… The post What to do When You Have Too Much Green appeared first on Sullivan Financial Planning ..read more

Over the last couple of years in a higher interest rate environment, the appeal of I Bonds went  from Zero (kind of like their returns prior to 2021) to Kardashian-level break-the-internet appeal. Many clients have asked if they should get on that train.  My answer – as always – is “it depends.” Last week’s blog… The post How do I use I Bonds? appeared first on Sullivan Financial Planning ..read more

After many years of low inflation, starting in 2021 I Bonds began having their moment.  So, here is a primer on how I Bonds work (today’s blog) and how you might use them in your portfolio (next week – that’s right, a two-part cliffhanger blog!) I Bonds are a type of U.S. Treasury savings bond… The post WTF (What the Finance) is an I Bond? appeared first on Sullivan Financial Planning ..read more

Thanks to alert reader and all around supportive husband Sean Sullivan for showing me this graphic from Visual Capitalist illustrating how much income it takes to live comfortably in each state.     This is helpful in my business, because often clients talk about relocating to a less expensive place to live.  But what does… The post Will Moving in Retirement Actually Save You Money? appeared first on Sullivan Financial Planning ..read more

Do we have to be serious all the time about investments?  Here’s hoping that even when stocks and bonds go down, a sense of humor can keep us from making emotional trading mistakes.             The post 3 Funny Memes About the Stock Market appeared first on Sullivan Financial Planning ..read more

I’ll make this quick: Roth Conversions for people entering retirement are often not the best idea, despite what you read in (numerous, unending, relentless) articles in financial media. Yes, some of you may have outsized buckets of tax-deferred money, which means you did a great job saving in tax-deferred retirement accounts when that was the… The post Roth Conversions: Critically Important or Financial Noise? appeared first on Sullivan Financial Planning ..read more

Waaayyyy back in the day, when I worked for a large discount brokerage that shall remain unnamed, but was headquartered in Boston, and still shall remain unnamed, management introduced a groundbreaking new software called the Retirement Income Planner. The irony that our new offering for those transitioning to retirement was called R.I.P. was not lost… The post Part 2 – explain the difficulty of using probability of success to apply to your spending appeared first on Sullivan Financial Planning ..read more

Have you ever wondered why your financial advisor describes your retirement readiness in terms of a known gambling mecca?  Is he or she so uncertain of their advice, that they are actually saying it’s all just a crap shoot? It might help to explain the progression of retirement projection techniques by giving a little history.… The post Monte Carlo Simulations Explained – and Debunked (?) appeared first on Sullivan Financial Planning ..read more